Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
Lament of the Exiles
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,(B)
3 for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”(C)
Psalm 144
A King’s Prayer
Of David.
1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock(A)
who trains my hands for battle
and my fingers for warfare.(B)
2 He is my faithful love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer.
He is my shield,(C) and I take refuge in him;(D)
he subdues my people[a] under me.(E)
3 Lord, what is a human that you care for him,
a son of man[b] that you think of him?(F)
4 A human is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.(G)
5 Lord, part your heavens and come down.(H)
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.(I)
6 Flash your lightning and scatter the foe;[c]
shoot your arrows and rout them.(J)
7 Reach down[d] from on high;(K)
rescue me from deep water, and set me free
from the grasp of foreigners(L)
8 whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(M)
9 God, I will sing a new song to you;
I will play on a ten-stringed harp for you(N)—
10 the one who gives victory to kings,
who frees his servant David
from the deadly sword.(O)
11 Set me free and rescue me
from foreigners(P)
whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(Q)
12 Then our sons will be like plants
nurtured in their youth,
our daughters, like corner pillars
that are carved in the palace style.(R)
13 Our storehouses will be full,
supplying all kinds of produce;(S)
our flocks will increase by thousands
and tens of thousands in our open fields.(T)
14 Our cattle will be well fed.[e]
There will be no breach in the walls,
no going into captivity,[f]
and no cry of lament in our public squares.(U)
15 Happy are the people with such blessings.
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.(V)
Psalm 104
God the Creator
1 My soul, bless the Lord!
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with majesty and splendor.(A)
2 He wraps himself in light as if it were a robe,
spreading out the sky like a canopy,(B)
3 laying the beams of his palace
on the waters above,(C)
making the clouds his chariot,(D)
walking on the wings of the wind,(E)
4 and making the winds his messengers,[a]
flames of fire his servants.(F)
5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be shaken.(G)
6 You covered it with the deep
as if it were a garment;
the water stood above the mountains.(H)
7 At your rebuke the water fled;
at the sound of your thunder they hurried away(I)—
8 mountains rose and valleys sank[b]—
to the place you established for them.(J)
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never cover the earth again.(K)
10 He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.(L)
11 They supply water for every wild beast;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.(M)
12 The birds of the sky live beside the springs;
they make their voices heard among the foliage.(N)
13 He waters the mountains from his palace;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of your labor.(O)
14 He causes grass to grow for the livestock
and provides crops for man to cultivate,
producing food from the earth,(P)
15 wine that makes human hearts glad—
making his face shine with oil—
and bread that sustains human hearts.(Q)
16 The trees of the Lord flourish,[c]
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.(R)
17 There the birds make their nests;
storks make their homes in the pine trees.(S)
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes.(T)
19 He made the moon to mark the[d] festivals;[e]
the sun knows when to set.(U)
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals stir.(V)
21 The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.(W)
22 The sun rises; they go back
and lie down in their dens.(X)
23 Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until evening.(Y)
24 How countless are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.[f](Z)
25 Here is the sea, vast and wide,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.(AA)
26 There the ships move about,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play there.(AB)
27 All of them wait for you
to give them their food at the right time.(AC)
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.(AD)
29 When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.(AE)
30 When you send your breath,[g]
they are created,(AF)
and you renew the surface of the ground.(AG)
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works.(AH)
32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
he touches the mountains,
and they pour out smoke.(AI)
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.(AJ)
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him;
I will rejoice in the Lord.(AK)
35 May sinners vanish from the earth
and wicked people be no more.(AL)
My soul, bless the Lord!
Hallelujah!
16 When Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction. 17 So Saul said to the troops with him, “Call the roll and determine who has left us.” They called the roll and saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were gone.
18 Saul told Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God,” for it was with the Israelites[a] at that time. 19 While Saul spoke to the priest,(A) the panic in the Philistine camp increased in intensity. So Saul said to the priest, “Stop what you’re doing.”[b]
20 Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there the Philistines were, fighting against each other in great confusion!(B) 21 There were Hebrews from the area who had gone earlier into the camp to join the Philistines, but even they joined the Israelites(C) who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the Israelite men who had been hiding in the hill country of Ephraim(D) heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they also joined Saul and Jonathan in the battle. 23 So the Lord saved Israel that day.(E)
Saul’s Rash Oath
The battle extended beyond Beth-aven, 24 and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had[c] placed the troops under an oath:(F) “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food.
25 Everyone[d] went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground. 26 When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it[e] because they feared the oath. 27 However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb.(G) When he ate the honey,[f] he had renewed energy.[g](H) 28 Then one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.”
29 Jonathan replied, “My father has brought trouble to the land.(I) Just look at how I have renewed energy[h] because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.”
Saul’s Baptism
10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
“Here I am, Lord,” he replied.(A)
11 “Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus(B) named Saul, since he is praying there. 12 In a vision[a] he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”(C)
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.(D) 14 And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”(E)
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument(F) to take my name to Gentiles,(G) kings, and Israelites.(H) 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”(I)
17 Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”(J)
18 At once something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. 19 And after taking some food, he regained his strength.(K)
Saul Proclaiming the Messiah
Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time.
Crucified Between Two Criminals
32 Two others—criminals(A)—were also led away to be executed with him. 33 When(B) they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father,(C) forgive(D) them, because they do not know what they are doing.”[a](E) And they divided his clothes and cast lots.(F)
35 The(G) people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing:(H) “He saved others; let him save himself if this is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!” (I) 36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came offering him sour wine(J) 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews,(K) save yourself!”
38 An inscription was above him:[b] This Is the King of the Jews.
39 Then(L) one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at[c] him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God,(M) since you are undergoing the same punishment? 41 We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.”(N) 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me[d](O) when you come into your kingdom.”(P)
43 And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”(Q)
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